URGENT - HELP 2nd Opinion on Subsidence

clutton_2

broken drains can cause havoc even if it is only a small break, as the water which escapes, sometimes over years, can create huge difficulties..

i would also be concerned with this ....


"Incidentally just found out also that a main sewer runs through the house as well so could this have any connection with the subsidence?""

i assume you mean underneath - from front to back ? I know it is not easy to get permission to build over a sewer, and i know that some sort of "bridge" has to be built over it to prevent the weight of the house cracking it... but i would not want to live over one - at least not before i knew exactly how the relevant Water Board planned to replace it if there was damage under my house...


maybe jonbvn could comment ?

madmax2

Hi

I have recently posted here about buying a house with possible subsidence...

To cut a long story short we dont think it is subsidence now - we think it is leaking drains. There are no external cracks. I have had a retired structural engineer have a look and he agrees that he doesn't think it is either. We are now in a dilema as the vendor was going to claim on their insurance (SAGA) and have the house underpinned and decorated etc. However, the whole thing has become a nightmare as if we go down this route it is almost impossible to get the house insured as SAGA wont let us carry on as we are not over 50. In view of the fact that we now dont think it is subsidence I am thinking of getting a proper report done by a structural engineer to confirm this and if so thinking of going ahead and buying the property at a renegotiated price as we will still have to sort out the drains and all the internal cracks etc. Does this seem a good idea or not? It will avoid the issue with the insurance. However, if the vendor has already paid the £1000.00 excess on the insurnce what will happen - if she doesn't go ahead with teh work will the claim be cancelled and therfore not logged i.e. giving the house a clean bill of health with no subsidence issues (plus if our structural engineers report confirms there are no subsidence issues should this be ok?) Has anyone else experienced this? I suppose if they are not getting the work done then it should be cancelled - will she lose the £1000.00?

Another issue is there is a public sewer 300mm that runs through the back garden. We would like to extend - will we be allowed to do this? Our retired structural engineer friend thinks there should be a way round it and thinks the best way is t approach the local council first before Yorkshire Water. Does anyone else have any experience of this?

We really love the house so hopefully if we can overcome these problems we will have our dream house. Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks

Debt_Free_Chick

madmax2 wrote: »

To cut a long story short we dont think it is subsidence now - we think it is leaking drains.

See my post #6

That was an insurance job as it cost £20k to rectify

tbaines71

If this is still ongoing please for goodness sake DO NOT rely upon what Cunningham Lindsey have compiled in their report, these guys are complete Muppets! I have a similar problem but without going in to detail the CL report that I received is almost identical to yours, CL also suggested it was a damaged drain and clay shrinkage and wanted to charge me £930 to replace the drain. When I started to ask questions as you do they didn’t like it and contradicted themselves in a letter to me and stated that there was nothing wrong with the drain, and said it didn’t need replacing! So I guess they just wanted me to swallow their report while they proceeded to rob me! I would not let these guys lose on my daughter’s wooden Wendy house. I’ve insisted on a second opinion from a independent Structural Engineer and I mean INDEPENDANT one who will give a independent view of what the cause of the subsidence is and how the movement can be stabilised and not the view which only interest the insures! I'm sorry I can’t go into more detail, all I can say is the Structural Engineer I found visited my property and said that the 35mm crack is not due to clay shrinkage he even tried to call the CL engineer several times but he would not return his call I wonder why. You must remember these clowns work for the insurance company and when it comes to subsidence claims the insurance company would prefer to keep patching up the problem on the cheap as long as they can instead of carrying out proper remedial work to stabilise the property from continued movement.

WhiteHorse

There are a lot of cowboys in this field these days. Many charge the earth and have no idea what they are talking about.

I find checking nearby properties and obtaining the opinion of a really good builder to be far more useful.

Imp

WhiteHorse wrote: »

There are a lot of cowboys in this field these days. Many charge the earth and have no idea what they are talking about.

I find checking nearby properties and obtaining the opinion of a really good builder to be far more useful.

As long as the opinion of the really good builder is backed by professional indemnity insurance, just like the structural engineer's option is.

WhiteHorse

Imp wrote:

As long as the opinion of the really good builder is backed by professional indemnity insurance, just like the structural engineer's option is.

In reality, proving negligence and then making a successful claim is a near impossibility.

frosty79

Hi,

Wondered if you could advise whether you've had any luck in finding a lender to provide you with a mortgage on a property that has subsidence?

I too am interested in a property that has subsidence and requires underpinning (according to the vendor's survey) but am having trouble finding any lender who will provide a mortgage.

Would welcome any help.

Many thanks

madmax2

Hi Frosty79

No unfortunately we haven't got a mortgage in place yet. We are currently renting the property and the vendors are claiming on their insurance SAGA to have the work done starting next week. I am having problems trying to get the insurance transferred over as we are not over 50. We were then advised that SAGA is underwritten by Aviva so I have had several conversations with them on the subject but they are saying they are nothing to do with SAGA. We have been advised by the Loss Adjustor "Cunningham Lindsey" that this is the best route to go down to retain continuity of the existing claim and to protect us in the future with any future pre-existing subsidence problems if they occur.

I'll keep you posted

frosty79

Thanks madmax2, would be very interested to hear how you get on with the insurers and the banks.

I too have been in contact with Cunningham & Lindsey re the property I am interested in, but am finding them very hard work.

Best of luck with your purchase, do let me know how you get on.